"PS I 4 <o& 



f SELECTIONS 



is 



n 




FK 



-r— OF- 



N. A/BANKS, B, S., 

f" Professor of Higher Mathematics in Paul i 
College, Waco, Texas. 



H BIO^Apptli\L ^ETtip W^ITTEfl 



-BY- 



J, K, WILLIAMS, 

Sis Successor as Editor of the Paul Quinn Monthly \ 



WACO, TEXAS: 

PAUL QUINN JOB PRINT. 

1889. 



fc^ 




N, A. Banks. 



SELECTIONS 



-OF- 



N. A. BANKS, B, S., 

Professor of Higher Mathematics in Paul Qrnnn 
College, Waco, Texas, 



^WITH.^ 




\ BIOIjiyip|Il(^L g^ETCp Wl(ITTEpI 



-BY 



J, K, WILLIAMS, 

His Successor as Editor of the Paul Quinn Monthly. 



WACO, TEXAS: 

PAUL QUINN JOB PRINT, 

1889. 



A 









Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1889, 

by N. A. Banks, 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



iitiODUcnoi to ihebigai litebatuie. 



[An Address Delivered Before the Teachers of McLennan County.] 



Thought, enthroned and clothed with the beautiful garb 
of language, is a sovereign that wields a scepter which 
controls the destiny of nations. Egypt, the cradle of civ- 
ilization, will ever be of permanent interest to the world 
On account of what she has contributed to our common 
stock of human acquisitions-the germ of the alphabet alone 
is a coutribution for which her glory should ever be sung 
and her grandeur commemorated and told in such forms 
as to be transmitted to the posterity of all nations for all 
times. For, without the alphabet, nations could never 
have existed, and the peoples of the earth would have for- 
ever remained in their infancy. 

Language, the expression of thought, is one of the great- 
est gifts to man, and possibly surpassed only by the power 
of thought itself. And literature, the collection of the 
grandest and noblest thoughts of a people, is to a nation 



A 



4 SELECTIONS. 

as is the variegated verdure to mother-earth, which beau- 
tifies, adorns and makes existence a reality. 

Why are Greece and Home of so much interest to schol- 
ars of to-day? Take from them their Homer, their Virgil, 
and they fall into a state of second-rate importance. What 
would Italy be without her Dante, her Rossini, her Doni- 
zetti ? France without her Racine, her Corneille, her 
Moliere? Germany without her Goethe, her Schiller, her Lu- 
ther? Think of England without her Chaucer, her Milton, 
her Sheakespeare, her Felicia Heamans. And what would 
our own America be without her Emerson, her Haw- 
thorne, her Longfellow, her Alice Cary, her William 
Cullen Bryant, whose classic dignity of style and purity 
of diction give to his own name and to his country's an 
undying fame ? 

If Greece and Rome have given us a literature that 
commands our admiration ; if France, Germany and Eng- 
land have produced men whose names our tongues de- 
light to praise, American men of letters ought, at least, to 
commend themselves to our occasional attention. Nay, 
more ; American literature is richer in thought, more varied 
in form, more majestic in style, reaches grander, purer 
and more sublime strains of the human emotions, and is 
bodied forth in a dress more beautiful than the embroidery 
of Sidon or the purple of Tyre. 

In his description of the various elements which con- 
tribute to the English vocabulary, an American writer 
has said : 

' 'Not from one metal alone the perfectest mirror is shapen, 
Not from one color is built the rainbow's aerial bridge. 
Instruments blending together make the divinest of music, 
Out of myriad of flowers sweetest of honey is drawn." 



SELECTIONS. 5 

Then exulting with a true admiration and reverence for 
his mother-tongue, touching chords in the diatonic scale 
that echo strains of angelic harmony, he breaks forth: 

'•Give me, of every language, my vigorous English, 
Stored with imported wealth, rich in its natural mines, 
Grand in its rythmical cadence, simple for household employment, 
Worthy the poet's song, fit for the speech of man." 

Such is the language in which is embodied the literature 
to which we are to-night to be introduced. 

American literature, like American history, naturally 
divides into three periods — the Colonial age, the Revolu- 
tionary age and thy National age. 

I. THE COLONIAL AGE. 

The first period, as would naturally be inferred, par- 
takes of the characteristics of the European reformation, 
and is mostly theological in its nature. 

In 1521 the great German theologian, Martin Luther, 
was arraigned before the Diet of Worms. A century 
later, the Pilgrims landed on Plymoth Eock. Within two 
decades after their arrival, 1640, American leterature had 
its beginning with the publication of the "Bay Psalm 
Book," the first book ever published in America. 

Among the writers of note during this period, may be 
mentioned the Rev. Cotton Mather, a man ef remarkable 
ability, whose cultured brain was a product of Harvard 
College. He published several books, which throw much 
light upon the actual life of the New England people of 
his time. The Rev. Jonathan Edwards was a profound 
metaphysician and writer of considerable note. It has been 
said that his book entitled " An Inquiry into the Freedom 
of the Will," is one of the profoundest metaphysical works 
ever written and insures the author a permanent place 



6 SELECTIONS. 

among the great thinkers of the world. There were sev- 
er id writers of minor note during the colonial period, 
a r'ong whom. Mrs. Ann Bradsrteet, the first American 
poetess, and John Eliot, "the apostle to the Indians" are 
worthy ot mention. 

II. THE REVOLUTIONARY AGE 

is pre-eminently an age of patriotism, expressed both in 
poetry and prose. What school-boy of to-day is not fa- 
miliar with those beautiful lines written on the American 
ilag by that brilliant, but short-lived poet, Drake, in which 
he says : 

"When Freedom, from her mountain height, 
Unfurled her standard to the air, 
She tore the azure robe of night, 
And set the stars of glory there!" 

And what lines are more embellished with poetic excellence, 
more manly and spirited, than those lines of Halleck, 
written on the death of Drake, when addressing the mol- 
dering clay of that disembodied genius he says : 

"Green be the turf above thee, 
Friend of my better days! 
None knew thee but to love thee, 
None named thee but to praise." 

The prose writers of this age we can not pass by with- 
out mentioning, at least, the name of that writer, philos- 
opher and statesman, Benjamin Franklin, whose writings 
are deeply interesting, entertaining and instructive, both 
to the young and to the old. The wise sayings in his "Poor 
Richard's Maxims," though deep and broad, are so intel- 
ligible as to be understood by a child, yet are worthy as in- 
structions for kings. Hear him when he says : "If you 
would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either 



SELECTIONS. 7 

write things worth reading, or do things worth writing. 1 ' 
In connection with this thought come the reflections of 
that great poet ot the 

TIT. NATIONAL AGE. 

when he says in the concluding lines of his "Thanatopsis:'> 

"So live that, when thy summons come to join 
The innumerable caravan that moves 
To that mysterious realm where each shall take 
Mis chamber in the silent halls oi death— 
Thou go, not like the quarry-slave at night — 
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." 

But so numerous are the writers both of prose and 
verse, and so copious are their productions, that time will 
not permit us here to attempt a consideration of the rich 
and varied contributions of this, the ripest age in the his- 
tory of American literatuie. So let us pause here, to 
resume this pleasant task severally in our private studio ; 
and there, bearing in mind the inspiring thought that our 
National Age presents a galaxy ol writers distinguished 
for their refined tastes, wide culture, profound thought 
the beauty and purity of whose works challenge the world, 
we shall be conducted to new and greater beauties in our 
literature, and be continually inspired byre-reading those 
beautiful lines of W. W. Story on the English language 
concluding* 

"Therefore it is that I praise thee and never can cease from rejoicing, 

Thinking that good stout English is mine and my ancestor's tongue; 

Give me its varying music, the flow of its free modulation , 

I will not covet the full roll of the glorious Greek, 

Luscious and feeble Italian lisp, Latin so formal and stately, 

French with its nasal, nor Geiman inverted and harsh, 

Not while our organ can speak with its many and wonderful voices, 

Play on the soft flute of love, blow the loud trumpet of war, 

Sing with the high sesquialtro, or drawing its full diapason, 

Shake all the earth with the grand storm of its pedals and stops. " 



TIE DEIIIIS 6F TIE 



[Annual Address before the Literary Societies of Paul Quinn College, 
Jnnel2, 1888.] 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — When you 
recall to mind the fact that for two years T personally 
witnessed the interest and anxiety manifested by the 
President, Faculty and the students in their efforts to 
make the work of this institution second to none of its kind 
in this whole South-land ; when you remember that it was 
my privilege to note, and that too with much interest and 
pleasure, the readiness and earnestness with which you 
as students have often responded to the call of the President 
to assist in any way in enhancing or in beautifying and 
adorning the college premises ; when vour minds go back 
to the times when, as students, you have launched your 
adventurous barks amid the tossinig billows upon the 
great ocean of thought, it was my good pleasue to throw 
out the rope for you to take in sail and anchor safe in har- 
bor for rest and recuperation ; when your minds revert to 
the many vicissitudes of mingled bitter and sweet we have 
experienced together in the relation of teachers and stu- 



SELECTIONS. 9 

dents, you can somewhat judge of the ecstacy of joy it 
brings me after one year's absence, to join you again in 
witnessiug under this improved condition oi things the 
closing exercises of this institution. 

Here you have your mechanical department in which 
you exercise the muscle, develop the bodily form, and 
at the same time learn a useful trade; and you have also 
your printing department by which you bring yourselves 
into constant communication with the people all over this 
section of the country, apprise them of the grand and no- 
ble work being done at this institution — these are condi- 
tions and circumstances under which angels might well 
rejoice. 

Mr. President and Faculty, allow me to congratulate 
you upon the very hopeful prospects you have before you, 
and to assure you that it was not without a deep sence of 
gratitude and humble submission that I accepted the hon- 
or conferred upon me by extending to me the invitation 
to perform the task of this hour. And here allow me to 
express my opiuion that with the present growing pros- 
pects and uuder the vigilant eye of our new Bishop, Paul 
Quiun's bright day will soon begin to down, that African 
Methodism and Negro progress will take a fresn start on 
their road to successs in the great Southwest. 

If, ladies and gentlemen, in what I shall say to-night, 
you should find a word of encouragement that you consider 
worthy of treasuring up in your minds to stimulate and 
to inspire you in your efforts of coming years, I shall be 
rewarded in the consciousness of having made the at- 
tempt. 

Many of you expect, at most within a few years, to enter 



10 SELECTIONS. 

permanently upon your life-work. You know not just 
what that work will be. But, as you have been taught 
here directly from the pulpit, and also in the class-room, 
to 'do with your might what your hands find to do,' your 
greatest efforts can be but to apply yourselves studiously 
and faithfully to the work at hand, that when you enter 
the arena of active life you may be fully prepared in every 
particular event to meet the demands of the hour. 1 trust 
that this has been your aim during this and the preceding 
years of your studenc life. 

Human life itself is a problem. What is the purpose of 
our being? and what our destiny ? are questions that often 
require a lif-time to solve ; yet, a proper understanding 
ol our purpose and destiny is necessary to right living and 
to the fulfillment of the life-mission. 

Those who think that life and its achievement:! are the 
result of mere chance generally consider pres nt pleasure 
and enjoyment the greatest ends to be attained ; hence, much 
of their latent energy never becomes active, and many of 
their mental faculties remain forever undeveloped. But, 
on the other hand, those who believe that "life is real ! 
life is earnest ! " and that the Master had a grand purpose 
in speaking man into existance with such unlimited possi- 
bilities for development ; those who hold the opinion 
that, when the inferior forirs of animal life come to their 
perpetual end and the present order of things has been 
changed, man will embrace perpetual life, and that the 
mind and soul will continue to develop and unfold their 
powers, bringing human thought into closer proximity to 
that of the omniscient Architect himself; and those who 
believe that each individual is the architect of his own 



SELECTIONS. 11 

fortune, and only they, are the ones who generally reach 
eminent success and accomplish the highest purposes 
of life. 

Would you mount the pinnacle and take the prize, avail 
yourselves of every opportunity to pluck from the laby- 
rinth of truth a gem of thought. Remember that 

"The heights by great men reached and kept, 
"Were not attained by sudden flight ; 

But they, while their companions slept, 
Were toiling upwards in the night." 

The hours and moments that now are yours will shortly 
be ushered into the irretrievable past, and a few years will 
soon find you knocking at the door of some field of labor, 
waiting for addmission. 

Admittance obtained, much will be expected of you, 
much demanded. And foremost of importance will be 
the demand for true manhood. The world to-day wants 
men and women who can be relied upon for their truth- 
fulness and honesty, and whose 

I. INTEGRITY OF CHARACTER 

is not only unquestioned, but unimpeachable. 

Character is the sum total of distinguishing qualities. 
If one man is relied upon raorr than others, and ie pre- 
ferred above others in the circle of his acquaintances, it is 
because his character has won for him such pre-eminence- 
And if one individual reaps a greater, a more illustrious 
destiny than those around him of equal opportunities, it 
is because he sowed such seed only as could bring fort a 
noble character full of richness. 

"The law of harvest," says a distinguished writer, lt is 
to reap more than you sow. Sow an act and you reap a 



12 SELECTIONS. 

habit ; sow a habit, and you reap a character ; sow a 
character, and you reap a destiny." 

The verdant spring, of life is the right time to sow- 
Then, labor with diligence and wait with patience for the 
time to gather the harvest. As the seed sown in fertile 
soil takes root, sends forth to the golden rays its spreading 
branches to yield an abundant harvest to the hand of in- 
dustry, so the seed of discrete thinking, sown early in life, 
germinates in the fruitful mind arid produces an abund- 
ant harvest, exactly the same in kind as the thought 
sown. In fact, life itself, with all its achievements — includ- 
ing all that is meant by the term, character — is but the 
outward expression of inwardly cherished thoughts. 
Hence the secret of forming an untarnished character— a 
secret because practically unknown to thousands — is in 
guarding well, with drawn sword, the gate that gives 
entrance to the sanctum of the mind. Says one writer, 
'The thoughts once admitted to the shrine of the mind 
are there forever." If the statement is a fact — and there 
are many reasons for believing it to be— think of the feel- 
ings one would experience at some period of his eternal 
existance, possibly in the presence of just men made per- 
fect, reviewing all the thoughts ever admitted and en- 
tertained! Were this theory of mental and moral philos- 
ophy universally accepted, and adopted as the basis of 
mental activity, we might soon expect grand improve- 
ments in the production of thought, and a higher stand- 
ard for the nobility of character in the individual, the 
race, the nation, the world. 

A desire to have the most favorable consideration and 
the esteem of their fellows is quite a motive principle in 



SELECTIONS. 13 

actuating men and women in their habit of thinking and 
in their general conduct. And this principle acts as an 
incentive to habits of truthfulness, honesty, industry and 
uprightness. But a still higher motive principle is that of 
conforming to the right in all things lor the sake of right 
itself and for the consequent pleasure derived from the 
approbations of an enlightened conscience. 

Those who are actuated by the former principle strive 
to build a reputation; those who adopt the latter princi- 
ple as the basis of action, strive for the formation of a per- 
fect character. The former, under pressing circumstances 
may be bribed, bought and sold; the latter, under all cir- 
cumstances, are ever found true, trusty, reliable and loyal 
to every cause of truth and justice. And such ladies and 
gentlemen are in demand to-day. They are wanted in 
every line of business, in every circle of society, in every 
vocation of lite — from the sacred alter to the humblest po- 
sition of the day-laborer — let your standard be high. 

Wealth, honor, and the praise of men are blessings rare- 
ly bestowed, and consequently' much desired. But though 
you never count your possessions by the thousands ; 
though praise and flattery never tread to the sweet sound 
of music along your path of life ; and though the last rest- 
ing place of your ashes should never be marked by a tow- 
ering column of marble, and to your memory the pealing 
anthems never swell their note of praise, let nothing but 
conformity to truth, and integrity of purpose mark your 
very actions through life. Remember the lines of Gray: 

"The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 

Awaits alike the inevitable hour. 
The paths of glory lead but to the grave. 



14 SELECTIONS. 

u Can stored urn or animated bust 
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? 

Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust, 
Orflatterv soothe the dull cold ear of death? 



"Full many a gem of purest ray serene 

The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear ; 
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 

We often observe two individuals apparently endowed 
with equal gifts, mentally and physically, and surrounded 
with equal advantages for culture and improvement — 
sometimes brothers and sisters in a family — one rises to 
honor and true greatness, the other falls into snares of 
shame and disgrace. Why this great difference? r Jhe 
cause must be found in the ^act that there are, somewhere 
in the realm of mental and moral possibilities, provisions 
by which, properly observed, true honor and success are 
attained; and, disregarded, one is invariably driven to the 
wall. Those who have been most successful in making 
their own lives useful, and in handing down to posterity 
an example of a spotless character have done so, not by 
any specia-1 favor of providential guidance, but on the 
other hand it has been simply the result of placing them- 
selves in harmony with the laws which Nature has estab- 
lished for the government of the mental, moral and 
material universe. 

"Know then, thyself, presume not God to scan ; 
The proper study of mankind is man." 

It is not all of life merely to live; in the life of every 
one there is some grand purpose to be accomplished ; and 
he who would prove himself worthy the space he occu- 



SELECTIONS. 15 

pies, and would be recognized among men must battle 
valiantly and rightfully to attain such heights intellectual- 
ly and socially as he can hold undisputedly his own. And 
to this end it is necessary that you set your aims high, di- 
vide your time well, apply yourselves diligently, strive to 
master thoroughly o very branch of knowledge to which 
your attention is directed ; otherwise, you will learn, and 
that too, to your own sad experience, that, in whatever 
field your lot may be cast, the demand comes, in tones 
loud and distinct, for men and women of 

II. CULTURED MINDS AND BROAD VIEWS. 

Sir Alexander Hamilton once remarked to an intimate 
friend: "Men give me some credi't for genius. All the 
genius I have is just this — when J have a subject on hand I 
study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. I 
explore it in all its bearings. My mind becomes pervaded 
with it. Then the effort I make is what the people call 
the fruit of genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought." 

What is true in the case of Hamilton is true in nearly 
every case where men have become the world's groat 
benefactors. Therefore think not that you were born to 
poverty and insignificance. Every one has within him- 
self the germ of genius and greatness. Each one has 
within himself the spark of nobility. But that germ 
must be nurtured ; that spark must be kindled into a 
blazing flame. In other words, you must admit the fact, 
and act upon the principle that genius is simply the fruit 
of labor and thought. Then be not satisfied with merely 
skimming over the surface of knowledge ; dig deep and 
drink from the bottom of the fountain. 



16 SELECTIONS, 

Says Lord Bacon, "Reading maketh a full man; writing 
an exactm an; conference, a ready man,'' And again, he says 
'•Histories make men wise; poets, witty; mathematics subtle 
natural philosophy, deep; moral philosophy, grave." An- 
other writer has said that whatever subject you undertake 
to study never be satisfied until you have so mastered it 
that you can reach your arms around it and clinch you r 
hands on the other side. 

Let me remind you that this kind of application to study 
not only stores the mind with fact, but gives culture, and 
develops the reasoning faculties, and consequently gives 
depth and breadth of.thoughc. I le who has a cultured mind 
can make himself useful in hundreds of w ays that he 
could not if he simply "had his mind stored with mere 
facts. And he who has broad views on subjects of private 
and public concern is the one who can lessen the friction of 
human society and give speed to the wheels of progress. 

Some of onr greatest men of genius have had the poor-. 
est of circumstances and advantages under which to labor; 
and what they have accomplished have been simply the 
fruit of labor and of thought. They have done so by their 
patience, by their perseverance, by their indomitable will. 

He who would write his name indelibly in the memories 
of his fellow-men , and would live in example through the 
ages of time, can do so if he will only make a proper use 
of all those mental and physical powers ;with which Na- 
ture and Nature's God have endowed him. God has placed 
success within the grasp of every one. All you have to do 
is to put forth the hand and it is yours. But sometimes 
it requires a persistent effort and will to put forth the 
hand. 

While it may not be within the power of every one to 



SELECTIONS. 17 

make a complete success in the affairs of state, in the field 
of law, or in the science of medicine, it is within his pow- 
er to make himself felt in some activity of life, and he can 
become great in his ability to think, be, and do good. 

Remember that every good deed elevates the doer; every 
noble thought ennobles the thinker; every true exertion 
both of mind and body, lifts the actor one step nearer the 
plane of true manhood or womanhood. In the language 
of the poel, 

"I count this thing to be grandly true, 
That a noble deed is a step toward God, 
Lifting the soul from the common sod 
To purer air and a broader view." 

If man, by his culture and skill, can relieve the pain and 
lessen the ills of life; or, by his persuasive words of ad- 
montion, direct some one to tread the "royal path" of life 
or, by the power of truth and eloquence, defend the inno 
cent in face of the sophistries of his accusors; or, by the 
sinue of his hand, add something to the world's great ac- 
tivities; or, from the richness ot his mind contribute some 
substantial product to the common stock of civilization, 
though his name be denied to history, it is written on the 
imperishable pages of time, and if he has lived a consis- 
tent life, that life has been a success — he has met the de- 
mands of the hour. 

If woman, by the training of her hand, by the culture of 
her mind, by the improvement ot her nobler nature, can 
bring into the home two rays of sunshine where before 
shone only one, or inspire the mind of man to higher aims 
and to loftier themes, or magnify true nobility and inspire 
manly dignity add to the total sum of human happiness 
by the purity and consistency of her life, that life has been 



18 SELECTIONS. 

& success — she has met the demands of the hour. 

Finally allow me to say, that when we look over the 
broad extent of this land and behold the hydra-headed 
embodiment of moral stagnation in every city, town and 
hamlet, dethroning reason, desolating our homes and lay- 
ing waste our land and country, there can be no question 
that temperance and moral reform are the great problems 
of the hour, demanding the best brain, the greatest energy 
and the brightest intellect the race and this nation can 
produce. 

Those who are being educated can not afford to stop 
short of that preparation which will place them in rank 
with those who are foremost in bringing about these re- 
forms by their example of living as well as by their pre- 
cepts. Should you stop short of this kind of preparaton 
you could not expect, when entering the field, to meet the 
demands of fhe hour. 

You who are being prepared for life r s labors, and with 
whom will rest the Devine charge of guarding the sauc- 
tity of home, of rearing and training the youth of the 
land, and of making the fuiure what it ought to be, will 
have no greater nor more important 1ask than that of 
teaching by example. You will often have the painful task 
of teaching those who are your superiors both in age and 
in experiaace. Then ;*emember the lines of Pope: 

"Men must be taught as though you taught them not 
And things unknown proposed as things forgot." 

It is commonly imputed 1o us that as a, race our moral 
development has not kept pace with our material and in- 
tellectual advancement. But when it is boruein mind that 
we have to battle not only against the imperfections trans- 



SELECTIONS. 19 

milted through several generations of ancestry in the se 
vei e school of involuntary servitude, but also against the 
various evils of intemperance springing up in modern 
times and then number the comfortable and well regulat- 
ed homes all over this country, the Negro is to be credited 
for the moral development he has made as well as he is to 
be congratulated upon his material and intellectual ad- 
vancement. 

Notwithstanding the advanced steps we have taken, we 
have not yet reached the goal by far. And an impartial, 
intelligent, broad view of our condition and surroundings, 
will reveal the fact that these demands to which your at- 
tention has been called come no less nor scarcely any 
more imperatively to the members of the Negro race than 
to those of the Caucasian race. 

But we are a separate, distinct people. ^Ve have our 
part to perform, they have theirs. And though, both by 
custom and by statutory law, we are thus constituted a 
distinct people, subject to various disadvantages, yet we 
are so related by the ties of a common nationality and of 
a common Fatherhood that their enlightenment means our 
elevation and safety : our elevation, their advancement ; 
and the enlightenment, social elevation, and continued 
advancement ot both races, and nothing short of this 
means the grandeur and glory of America. 



-Sy&s 



THE FlMEe 



[Graduating Oration, June 18th, 1885.] 



If we gaze upon a masterpiece of art, or behold the 
variegated aspect of a beautiful landscape when the. vernal 
sun is just creeping forth from behind the oriental hills, 
there seems to steal over us a mysterious feeling miugled 
with awe and admiration. Hidden qualities are they that 
thus dwell in the beautiful scenes of art and nature ; such 
as can be neither fully perceived by the eye nor perfectly 
comprehended by the understanding. "What is it in an 
exquisite design of art that can thus awaken such pleasant 
emotions in the human breast? What is it in a beautiful 
landscape that can thus call forth the most serene re- 
sponse of the immortal soul? The inquiry may be made, 
but what philosopher is able to set it forth in clear light 
to the human mind ? It is He, only, who controls this 
mysterious power, and can understand its nature. It is 
He who implanted in the human soul this adaptedness 
and inclination to admire whatever is grand, noble and 
sublime. 

Go stand at the base of Bunker Hill Monument and gaze 



SELECTIONS. 21 

upon its lofty column as it towers above the clouds to kiss 
the sky ; go stand by the tomb of the immortal Luther and 
meditate upon his incipient movements which resulted in 
the achievement of one of the most illustrious reforma- 
tions recorded in the annals of history ; go view the 
magnificent dome of the great cathedral of St. Peter's of 
Rome, and think ot the world renowned Machael Angelo 
whose skillful hand superintended the structure of those 
exceedingly massive walls — fit scenes are they to thrill the 
human breast with deep emotions and lead the energetic 
mind to aspire for the achievement of 

I. INDIVIDUAL FAME. 

If there be an individual in whom there remains no 
trace of a desire to reach fame and renown, it is only he 
who has had his highest hopes blighted, his noblest 
springs of action benumbed and his very spirit of manhood 
completely crushed. This craving desire may be denied, 
or designedly kept concealed; nevertheless, it is a principle, 
inherent in the very nature and constitution of the human 
mind. It is a principle that actuates not only men of 
superior culture and refinement, but even those in the 
most savage and uncivilized state. Take from man this, 
his noble trait of character and he sinks into a condition 
that is worse than barbarous. 

Would man rise to that distinction called great? Would 
he have his name arched in characters of living light? Let 
him first learn that the secret of this success is obtained 
only through the teachings of Him in whose right hand 
are the reins of the universe. 

The beautiful bud in the forest may bloom, flourish and 
decay, never once beheld by human eye; but it has accom- 



22 SELECTIONS. 

plished its full purpose. So it is with in any individuals. 
They contend tenaciously to gain the mastery over the foe 
of life, labor assiduously to climb the hill of fame,and pass 
off the stage of activity, never seen or known beyond the 
narrow circle in which they moved ; yet in the walks of 
life, frequently have they met their fellow-men over- 
burdened with responsibilities or verging too near the 
awful precipice of moral despondency, poured upon their 
heads the oil of gladness, stimulated them by the cautious 
words of admonition, and induced them to resume the 
erect attitude of moral and intellectual manhood. Such 
individuals, though they have never stood in the van of 
vast armies and signaled the victory of war : though they 
have never been honored with titles or sent as repre- 
sentatives to foreign lands; though they have never 
thronged the senate-halls or swayed vast audiences by the 
power of their eloquence, yet, worthy are they as human 
benefactors and justly do they deserve to have their 
names enrolled among the truly great. 

The revolving planets in their periodic course can, of 
themselves, neither stimulate human life with light and 
vigor nor cause the green-carpeted earth to bud and 
bloom in its full verdure of spring; yet, for the stability of 
the solar system, they are j ust as essential as the meridian 
sun crowned with all his majestic awe. Let the least con- 
fusion step in to hinder their established course: 

"Let earth, unbalanced from her orbit fly, 

Planets and sun run lawless through the sky," and 

'•Heav'n's whole foundations to their center nod, 
And nature tremble to the throne of God." 

Equally true is it in the moral and intellectual world- 
In society, many ranks are there to be filled. However 



SELECTIONS. 23 

menial they may appear, he who has the adaptability and 
courage to enter them and fully performs his life-task, 
whether it be in the minor circles of activity or in the 
highest walks of life, is an important and essential factor 
in the progress aud stability o.' human society. 

In the great struggle to reach fame, some have miscon- 
ceived the power by which it is achieved, and have fallen ' 
in the very beginning of the race; others, like a meteor, 
have shot forth and, for a short time, shown with great 
brilliancy and then disappeared entirely forgotten; others, 
with keen foresight, courage and valor, have made noble 
efforts, successiully climbed the rugged height,reachedthe 
pinnacle of fame and erected to their memories enduring 
monuments of the finest marble and the costliest granite. 

This adaptness and inclination to admire the beautiful 
and sublime; this, noble aspiration for the achievement of 
fame; this inherent tendency and fixedness of purpose 
faithfully to accomplish the moral aud intellectual mission 
of life, and these longings of the human race to reward 
with emoluments and crown with laurels the lives of 
victors, are exercised for the noblest purpose and to the 
highest avail when directed to the attainment and per- 
petuity of 

II. NATIONAL FAME. 

From the early dawn ot civilization the race has present- 
ed an unevenly developed history of progress. In the on- 
ward march, nations have risen, reached their zenith and 
wielded the scepter; but where are they to-day? As one 
nation has sunk beneath the pressure of foreign and 
domestic foes, others, with all the accumulated products of 
preceding ages, have entered upon the stage of activity. 



24 . SELECTIONS. 

Thns succeeding nations have entered the van with greater 
prospects for the attainment of a higher state of national 
development. 

Nations of antiquity have proved to the world what art. 
science and literature can effect for civilization. Modem 
nations, building up the bulwarks of antiquity, have 
opened new fields of discovery, presented broader views 
of science and industry, made possible the attainment of 
greater moral and intellectual freedom, and obliterated 
the superstitions and mysticisms of mythological ages by 
the brilliant light of truth and philosophy. 

Since it is an innate principle in man to aspire for the 
perfection of national as well as individual development, 
it is of prime importance that there be set forth in bold 
relief the essential principles of which national greatness 
consists. 

That nation whose foreign relations are tarnished by 
the atrocity of wars, whose domestic policy and principles 
of government do not secure the freedom of thought, the 
encouragement of virtue and the suppression of vice, how- 
ever broad her domain, however extensive her foreign 
possessions, however rich her internal resources, can not 
be called truly great. Of what then does national great- 
ness consist, other than the aggregate development of 
individuals bound together under one form of government 
whose principles are founded upon the concentration of 
common interests and so administered as to secure and 
maintain the moral, intellectual and material progress of 
all her constituents ? 

While there is a great galaxy of individuals whose un- 
told fame has made its impress upon the world, no where 



SELECTIONS. 25 

but in the minds of kings and emperors and in the 
theories of men are there to be found nations whose entire 
career deserves to be recorded as truly great. 

Egypt may justly be prized as the cradle in which was 
rocked the civilization of the world; Greece, for her 
principles of democracy and classic lore; Rome, for her 
municipal laws and pride of country; France, for her polite 
letters and social genius; Germany, for her scholastic 
philosophy and independence of thought; England, for her 
material industry and commercial enterprise, and, proud 
America may be admired as the receptacle of all these 
elements, and, by their assimilation with her own, it is 
possible for her to reach that high and noble state of 
civilization which the human race is destined to attain. 

We may form higher conceptions of American 
possibilities than a few decades or centuries may witness; 
yet the numerous examples of individual attainments, the 
wonderfully constituted nature of human society for an 
unlimited degree of development, the natural resources 
and accumulated advantages to which the American 
people have access, form an invincible proof that, by vigil- 
ance, prudence, foresight and a due portion of patriotism, 
this nation can attain a degree of advancement far be- 
yond what has ever before been attained in the history of 
the world. 



CMlBIie STABS 6F SOCIETY. 



[Written for the Paul Quinn Monthly.] 



Societies, as well as individuals, have character and 
reputation. The character and reputation of an indi- 
vidual are not always identical. The same is true of 
society. 

Because he never appeared before the masses ouly in 
his pomp and splendor, and consequently his real character 
not being known to them, the despot of antiquity was re- 
garded as a supernatural being, feared and treated with 
undeserved honor. 

In those times, sovereign power resided in, and pro- 
ceed from the throne. And he who sat upon the throne 
was the guarding star of society. But moderns have learn- 
ed that the people are sovereign, Hence the character, 
reputation and destiny of modern society are in the hands 
of the people. 

A careful inspection of modern society reveals the fact 
that those influences that protect society from danger and 



SELECTIONS. 27 

secure if against surprise and attack, come largely from 
teachers and ministers; hence they are the guarding stars 
of society. 

With all the modern inventions, improvements and in- 
dustries, a community without its well-established schools 
and churches — its teachers and preachers — can but be in a 
state of barbarism aud insecurity. 

Possibly the minister wields the greater intjuence over 
tho^e of his tim^s; but the influence of the teacher is felt 
iu molding the smtiment of the rising generation. The 
work of the teacher, then, can hardly be of less impor- 
tance than that of the minister. The teacher wields an in- 
fluence of which he himself is unaware. 

Those, then, who enter these important fields of labor,to 
shine as light in darkness, to be responsible for the for- 
mation of public sentiment aud to guard society against 
corrupting influences that are so prevalent, ought, of all 
persons, be men and women of refined taste of broad 
culture, firm in morals and deeply concerned in all the 
varied interests of tne community and public at large. 

How many of your teachers and preachers fill this bill ? 
Are you satisfied with them? Why not smooth their 
rough edges and check their unbridled tendencies ? They 
are not beyond advice aud counsel. 

Let the masses say that they will admit to these im- 
portant trusts none but the most fit and competant, and 
society 'will awaken as with newness of life." 



11MTI0I. 



[Written for the PaulQuinn Monthly.] 



Ambition is an eager desire of preferment or power. 
But few persons are as much dreaded and spurned as the 
ambitious, yet to this class of men the world is indebted 
for its grand achievements. 

It is ambition that impels man to aim high ; it is for the 
want of it that he fails to command the respect of his fel- 
low-man. It is unbridled ambition that induces man to 
over-rule law and order, and to abrogate the rights of 
others; it is slumbering or crushed ambition that fails to 
assert its claims, and even suffers the honor of manhood 
to be trammeled in the dust. 

Crushed within him everysense of mauly pride, and 
what is man? He is but ambulant dust to be ground by 
the powers that be, and drifted about as sand before the 
wind. With two hundred and fifty years of crushed am- 
bition, what propensity needs more to be aroused in the 
Negro to-day? Ye who have charge of our youth ! 
What principles shall ye instill in their grasping minds ? 
Ye who instruct I What lessons of history shall ye pre- 



SELECTIONS. 29 

seat for consideration? Ye who educate! What powers 
of mind, soul and strength shall ye develop ? 

Oh ! Ye immortal souls of earth, 
Winged forth from God's eternal Thone ! 

Let manly pride and self-respect 
The Negro race inspire alone. 

Say 1 Ye who tread yon sacred height, 
Does God still rule o'er man and earth? 

Why, then, shall we, the ?ons of Ham, 
For aye remain of lowly birth ? 

Roll on ! dark days, let truth prevail : 
The darkest hour preceeds the dawn. 

Hark ! the Clarion's note, distinct, I hear ; 
It can't be long till radiant morn. 



BtoeiirtifciL SIETCI. 



No vh Anthony Banks was born near East Liberty, 
Logan County, Ohio, March 6, 1859. His grandfather 
Anthony Banks, of old Virginia blood, reared in those 
days while the voice of liberty echoed along the hills and 
vales of this "land of the free/' took the liberty to immi- 
grate into the state of Ohio. He was a man of prominent 
features, and was blessed with a hardy constitution, and 
was one of the early pioneers who leveled the forests and 
improved the farms of Central Ohio. 

The subject of this sketch spent his boyhood days on a 
part of the original farm owned by his grandfather. His 
father, Washington Banks, came up in those days when 
there were no railroads in Ohio, and when the farmers of 
his section used to haul wheat, corn, hay etc., to Cincinnati 
to market, a distance of one hundred and twenty miles. 
As the forests were then very dense, and the country 

thinly populated, the highways were often covered with 
new-fallen timber and the road-sides infested with wild 

beasts, which made the ax and gun necessary companions 



SELECTIONS. 31 

in traveling. His lather was for several years a private 
student of law,but his predilection for farming biased him 
in that direction, and he subsequently became a farmer 
and trader, whose produce and stock contributed to the 
increase in valuation of Ohio farms and to the establishing 
of stock markets. 

The son, Noah, is the second youngest of six children, 
three of whom are still living. The mother, a woman of 
strong inclinations toward a literary life, died while the 
son was in his fourth year. She had instructed the eider 
children at home in the common branches, the eldest 
daughter having become a teacher by the instruction re- 
ceived under the parental roof. Of the four sons, one be- 
came a fanner, one a brickmason and the younger two are 
teachers. The only living sister, inclined toward house 
industries, settled upon the farm. Eeing the only colored 
family in Ihe neighborhood, the younger children were 
instructed at home by the elder ones; Noah, the youngest, 
having spent six months m the public schools at home. 
lie was the only colored child in school, but was highly 
respected by all. Of the three prizes awarded on spelling, 
writing and good behavior respectively, he won the laster 
two. 

Being very fond of stock and of farming, and also much 
inclined to use the carpenter's tools, his father thought he 
would either make young Anthony a fanner or a 
mechanic. Tut as the boy advanced in years, he became 
more inclined to a literary course of life. "While quite 
young, having a natural inclination to use the slate and 
pcucil, he was often depended upon to make computations 
when his father made trades and sales of stock and pro 



32 SELECTIONS. 

duce. He was also strongly inclined toward a musical 
course, both vocally and instrumentally, and became a 
violinist and an instructor of violin music. This latter 
gift he has not exercised in later years, because it is not 
much approved by his church. 

Tn December, 188O, Mr. Banks entered Wilberforce 
University, two years' preparatory work to be mastered 
before entering upon his course, making six years work 
in all to graduate from the department of science. 
This work he completed in four school years, and though 
having remained out of school the greater part of one 
school year, he graduated with high honors in 1885, in a 
class of eight persons representing seven states. 

During his first school year, mathematics was his 
favorite study, especiall algebra, gemoetry and 
trigonometry. His examination papers show that in 
algebra he stood perfect eight successive times, and 
though he made up trigonometry while out of school, on 
the final examination he stood ninety-nine and one-half 
per cent, on the scale of a hundred. In his latter school 
life, and since graduating, his favorite studies have been 
those of science and of history. 

Prof. Banks is a close student of nature, and has given 
considerable attention to the study of medicine. His 
success as a student is due to his systematic method of 
studying. The consideration of no subject takes place 
out of its allotted time, and his method has always been to 
finish one subject before taking up another. His regular 
amount of sleep is seven and one-half or eight hours,which 
he seldom fails to take. In mental temperament he is 
disposed to be patient and calm, though deeply in earnest 



SELECTIONS. S3 

and occasionally becomes enthusiastic on subjects of great 
interest. In physicial constitution he is of a fibrous 
structure, six feet high, weighs about one hundred and 
sixty-five pounds, and has a constitution capable of endur- 
ing a great deal of physical exertion, which he seems to 
take with a relish. 

In 1883, when seeking a school, he received a recom- 
mendation from Dr. B. F. Lee, then president of Wilber- 
force University, stating: 

"This is to certify that Mr. N. A. Banks is a student of 
this university. He has the entire confidence of the 
iaculty; has taught several classes here with satisfaction 
to all concerned as to ability to teach and to govern. He 
will fill with credit any position to which he may be 
appointed. 

After graduating in 1885, receiving the degree of B. S., 
he was appointed Professor of higher mathematics at 
Paul Quinn College, which position he held two years, 
resigning in the spring of 1887. In the following fall he 
was appointed Principal of one of the schools at Austin, 
Texas. While an applicant for the appointment he wrote 
to his native state for recommendations,and among others, 
a prominent Ohio man responded as follows: 

Belfontain, Ohio, Sept. 6, 1887. 
Mr. A. P. Wooldridge, President School Board, Austin. Texas: 

Mr. Noah A. Banks has asked me to state to you what 
I know of his former life. 

Noah A. Banks was born in Perry township, Logan 
County, Ohio, within less than a mile of my own home, 
and was my neighbor until a few years ago. He was 
universally respected among his neighbors as an honest 



84 SELECTIONS. 

industrious and quiet boy. His conduct and good qualities, 
won him many enthusiastic friends who would rejoice to 
know of his perfermont in high positions in your state. 

Be attended the white public schools in my schooi dis- 
trict and made special advancement in his studies. About 
the year 1880, he left this part of Ohio to attend college 
at, I think* Wilberforce University* and graduated at this 
university with high honors. 

He visited his old home some two or three years ago, 
and lectured in the M. E; Church at East Liberty, O., in 
his old neighborhood, and his audience was weH pleased 
to greet him with great cordiality. You will find him an 
upright, honorable and intelligent gentleman. 

Respectfully, 

J. D. Inskeep. 

He resigned the position at the close of the first session, 
and prepared to take a regular course of medical 
studies, but was called to his old place at Paul Quinn 
College. 

Prof. Banks has been an enthusiastic worker among, 
and for our people ever since he has been in the state, and 
has. in some way or other, been connected, not only with 
every general movement among the colored people for the 
bettering of their condition, but he has taken a decided 
stand against everything that tends to retard the reforma- 
tion of society in general. .• 

He professed Christianity in 1880, and joined the M. E. 
Church, but soon after, while attending Wilberforce 
Uuiversity, joined the A. M. E. Church. He is one of 
those Christians who believe in giving the savor of ex- 
ample to precept. 

He favored the proposed Prohibitory Amendment to the 



SELECTIONS. 35 

state constitution in 1887, and made speeches in favor of 
its adoption. He was one of the founders of the Paul 
Quinn Monthly, and ed'ted the first volume, besides 
attending to his duties as instructor. His editorial work 
elicited praise from the white papers all over the country. 
We quote the following, which appeared in the Paul 
Quinn Monthly while edited by him: 

WHAT THEY SAY. 

Prof. II. T. Kealing of Prairie View State Normal says: 
"For general neatness of make-up, quality of paper and 
aptness of selection of matter, I give the Monthly un- 
stinted praise." 

The Taxtl Quinn Monthly is on our table. It is an 
honor to the African race, and we congratulate its editors 
and publishers on its splendid appearance.— Waco Daily 
Examiner. 

We welcome among our exchanges a visitor from Waco, 
Texas the Paul Quinn Monthly, a neat eight-page 
paper, published by the Paul Quinn College, an institution 
owned and managed by colored men. — The Signet, 
(Kochester, N. Y.) 

We might quote from many others, but space will not 
allow. Now we say to our many readers, if you think 
these and similar testimonies are based upon real facts; if 
you think that the Paul Quinn Monthly has any 
promise for the future, will you not give it your support 
by securing a few subscribers? Let each subscriber secure 
two others, and help us to increase its circulation. We 
do not ask every colored person in the United States to 
subscribe, but only ask for a good circulation throughout 



36 SELECTIONS. 

the "Great Southwest," and especially throughout the 
Lone Star state. 

Also, in 1887, he read a paper on "High Schools" before 
the Texas State Colored Teachers' Association; delivered 
the annual address before the societies at Paul Quinn 
College in 1888. 

If we are to judge from a standpoint of ability, push, 
and a correct idea as to what constitutes "True Fame," we 
can feel safe in saying the future career of Professor 
Banks will be exceptionally bright. 



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